Picked at 3: QBs McNair, Young, Pastorini & DL Childress

With the 2013 NFL Draft just three days away, Titans Online is taking a look back at players who were selected with the 20th or higher picks in a countdown until the Titans make their first-round choice with the 10th overall selection on April 25.

The organization has had the pick just one time since becoming the Tennessee Titans and selected QB Vince Young out of Texas in 2006. QB Steve McNair also wore a Titans uniform but was selected when the team was still the Houston Oilers in 1995.

Houston held the third pick for the first time in 1971 and selected Dan Pastorini out of Santa Clara and held the pick three years in a row from 1985-87. The Oilers drafted defensive lineman Ray Childress, quarterback Jim Everett and fullback Alonzo Highsmith in consecutive years.

Young made a splash as a rookie when he had four fourth-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives to earn selection to the Pro Bowl and Offensive Rookie of the Year. He returned to the Pro Bowl in 2009 after leading three fourth-quarter comebacks and six game-winning drives that season.

Young started 47 of 54 games and went 30-17 as a starter. He completed 689 of 1,190 passes (57.9 percent) for 8,098 yards with 42 touchdown passes and 42 interceptions. He added 1,380 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 264 runs.

McNair didn’t make as quick of a splash as the player he later mentored but led his teams through the transition from Houston to Tennessee and all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV. Although his most iconic drive was stopped one yard short, McNair recorded 14 fourth-quarter comebacks and 20 game-winning drives with Tennessee.

McNair earned selection to three Pro Bowls and was named co-MVP for his performance in the 2003 season when he led the NFL with a 100.4 passer rating and average of 12.9 yards per completion. McNair went 76-55 in 131 starts with the Titans/Oilers, completing 2,305 of 3,871 passes for 27,141 yards and 156 touchdowns. He also rushed 614 times for 3,439 yards and 36 TDs.

Pastorini played nine years with the Oilers and persevered through a 5-25 mark in his first 30 games as a starter to go 48-29 in his final six seasons with Houston. He earned selection to the Pro Bowl in 1975 and had 13 fourth-quarter comebacks and 19 game-winning drives. Pastorini helped the Oilers make the playoffs in his final two seasons with Houston, including the 1979 AFC Championship.

The Oilers selected Childress out of Texas A&M, and he became a frequent Pro Bowler who helped take Houston to the playoffs seven seasons in a row (1987-93). Childress played 11 seasons with Houston, racked up the second-highest career sack total (74.5) in franchise history and made five Pro Bowls. He was named All Pro for his 1992 season when he recorded a career-high 13 sacks.

Further proof of Childress’ talent was that he switched from defensive end in a 3-4 scheme in his first five seasons to defensive tackle in a 4-3 for his final six seasons with Houston.

The Oilers drafted Everett two years after signing Warren Moon from the Canadian Football League and traded Everett to the Los Angeles Rams in September 1986 for William Fuller, Kent Hill, first and fifth-round picks in 1987 that were used to select Haywood Jeffires and Spencer Tillman, and a first-round pick in 1988 that was traded to the Raiders.

Highsmith started 35 of 40 games with the Oilers (1987-89) and rushed 251 times for 1,103 yards and seven touchdowns. He was traded to Dallas in 1990 when Houston decided to completely implement the Run ’N Shoot offense that did not use a fullback.